Thousands line streets for colourful Melksham Carnival

Thousands of people lined Melksham’s streets for this year’s carnival procession, which saw the town come alive with colour, crowds – and lots of fancy dress.

Residents were out in force on Saturday 5th July to support a wide variety of entrants, including dancers, a marching band, bikers, and characters ranging from superheroes to Disney princesses.

The procession was led by a group of costumed bikers who interacted with the crowd. They were followed by the carnival royalty in open-top cars, along with entries from dance groups, schools, sports clubs and businesses from the town and beyond.

“The carnival team and I would like to thank so many people who support us, from dresses and crowns to vehicles and donations, marshals and the public,” said Michelle Brightwell of the Melksham Carnival team. “We are so grateful to you, and we can’t wait to do it all again next year.

“The absolute highlights had to be the Top Hat Riders, who brought smiles to so many people by letting them sit on their bikes and stopping for photos, and also the sheer determination of Broughton Gifford Preschool to be with us, despite their fully decorated float breaking down just as they set off to the start point. But they pulled it together and arrived in plenty of time.

“We were also very impressed with Melksham Girlguiding, who did their first entry in quite some years, choosing The Wizard of Oz as their theme. A special shout-out to one of the leaders, Vicky, who made every costume herself, and her mum, who helped mastermind the whole entry.”

Before the carnival started, Carnival Prince Guy Newman had 25 inches of his hair cut in aid of Carnival Queen Debbie’s fundraising campaign for CoppaFeel!, which he revealed for the first time during the procession. “Our royalty didn’t stop smiling all day, and we are very proud of them and the supporters who helped them dazzle that day,” said Michelle.

This year’s carnival winners were: White Horse Military Show for best float/vehicle, Broughton Gifford Preschool for best school, Million Memories Pony Parties as best small walking group, Melksham Girlguiding as best large walking group, 4Stars Dance for best performance group, Julie Abbot as best individual, The Wiltshire Caledonians as the Town Crier’s choice, 4Stars Dance again as the Mayor’s choice, and Melksham Girlguiding as the Royalty’s choice.

Funds were raised through collection buckets during this year’s carnival, which will go towards funding next year’s event. “Our expenses start at £2,500 just to get the road closures done safely, never mind any fun extras like the marching bands, so the buckets are essential in making sure we can run year on year,” said Michelle.

“Personally, I would like to thank Beth and Fiona for our weekly catch-ups, they are the calm to my storm as planning goes along, as well as Cam and AP for always being right where we need them as the day approaches, and Rebecca, Debs and Amy for their help organising the car park. And finally, Regan, for dragging us into the future with his clever technology.”

See the full photo feature in this issue of the Melksham News